Gun stock

ABSTRACT

A gun stock constructed in accordance with the present invention broadly includes first and second stock members and a spline. The stock members each present an inner and outer face, and are constructed from wood. The spline is constructed from carbon fiber cloth impregnated with an adhesive resin. The spline is positioned between the inner faces of the stock members, strengthening the stock and permitting the stock to be constructed from relatively thin pieces of wood.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent ApplicationNos. 60/738,671 filed Nov. 21, 2005, and 60/775,380 filed Feb. 21, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a gun stock for weapons, suchas shotguns and rifles. More particularly, the present invention relatesto an improved composite gun stock including outer stock halvesconstructed from wood and an inner spline constructed from syntheticmaterial.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Gun stocks have long been used in order to assist a shooter in holdingand aiming a weapon, and properly transferring the recoil associatedwith discharging the weapon. Prior art gun stocks are commonly made fromwood or synthetic resin material.

Each material has its advantages and disadvantages. For example,synthetic stocks are relatively impervious to damage from the elements.However, they do not absorb sound very well, producing a hollow, noisysound when they come into contact with an object, such as brush, acommon occurrence when the weapon is a hunting rifle or shotgun. Inaddition, most synthetic stocks are regarded as having a generallyundesirable appearance.

Gun stocks constructed from wood offer the advantages of relatively goodsound absorption qualities and are generally easier to custom fit to aparticular user. Unfortunately, wood stocks are often exposed to waterand generally damp conditions. Wood stocks are often susceptible todamage caused by such elements that may lead to warping, as well asother deformations of the original stock.

Many weapons are as much show-pieces as actual field weapons and costtens of thousands of dollars. For these more expensive weapons, wood ismore desirable as the material from which to make the stock since it isgenerally accepted that wood provides a better look than synthetic resinmaterial. A solid wood gun stock must be made from a rough blank that isabout 2 ¼″ in thickness. High quality, fancy grain, grades of wood areincreasingly difficult to acquire in these relatively thick roughblanks.

It is known in the prior art to construct a gun stock from multiple thinpieces of wood that are glued together to form a blank. The blank isthen machined into the desired shape. In this construction, very highquality wood may be easily obtained for making the layered gun stocksince the supply of high quality thin wood material is relativelygreater than relatively thick wood material. Such a layered stock,however, yields an uneven finish as the grains and colors of therespective pieces are unlikely to match and provide a homogeneouslooking stock.

As a result, a need exists for a wood stock that may be constructed fromrelatively thin pieces of wood which provides a homogeneous look. Inaddition, there exists a need for a method of constructing a gun stockfrom thinner material to provide a fancy high grade grain look than inprior art composite gun stocks. In other words, there exists a need tomanufacture a composite gun stock that does not look like a compositegun stock.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the needs discussed above and advancesthe state of the art in manufacturing gun stocks. A gun stockconstructed in accordance with the present invention broadly includesfirst and second stock members and a spline positioned between the stockmembers.

The stock members each present inner and outer faces, and areconstructed from cellulosic material. The spline is positioned betweenthe inner faces of the stock members, strengthening the stock andpermitting the stock members to be constructed from relatively thinpieces of wood.

In a first preferred embodiment, directed toward a relatively shortstock, such as one used for a shotgun, the spline includes a clothelement impregnated with an adhesive resin joining the first and secondstock members together. The spline is relatively thin compared with thestock members.

A second preferred embodiment is directed towards a relatively long gunstock used for a weapon such as a rifle. In the second embodiment, thespline includes two cloth elements impregnated with adhesive resin withan insert positioned between the cloth elements. The insert may beconstructed from cellulosic material, such as wood, or syntheticmaterial, such as plastic.

A method of constructing a gun stock broadly includes the steps offorming a spline by positioning a first carbon fiber cloth on the innerface of the first stock member, and impregnating the cloth with anadhesive resin. The second stock member is then placed on the spline,and the first and second stock members are pressed toward each otheruntil the adhesive resin sets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of a gun stock are described in detail below withreference to the drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gun stock constructed in accordancewith a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is end view of the gun stock of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the gun stock of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the gun stock of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a gun stock constructed in accordance with asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an rear view of the gun stock of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the gun stock of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the gun stock of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts a gun stock 10 constructedin accordance with a first preferred embodiment. The gun stock 10 is aso-called “short” stock configured for use with a shotgun or rifle. Thegun stock 10 includes a butt portion 12 and trigger hand grip portion14. The stock 10 also includes a forward end 16 that couples with thebarrel portion of a weapon (not shown). A separate non-trigger hand gripportion (not shown) is attached beneath the barrel of the weapon forassistance in balancing the weapon during use.

The stock 10 is constructed from a first stock member 18, a second stockmember 20, and a spline 22 positioned between the stock members 18, 20.Each stock member 18, 20 includes inner and outer faces 24, 26. Thestock members 18, 22 are constructed from wood material having athickness of between about 1-1¼″.

The spline 22 includes a carbon fiber sheet 28. The carbon fiber sheet28 is formed from a carbon fiber cloth, having approximately the samedimensions as each stock member inner face 24, impregnated with anadhesive resin, such as an epoxy, that acts as a binding agent, joiningthe stock members 18, 20 together. The spline 22 is approximately 0.060″in thickness. Once the gun stock 10 is machined, sanded and finishedinto its final form, the spline has the appearance of a very thin blackline along the approximate middle of the gun stock 10.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art of gun stockconstruction, by using relatively thin material for the stock halves, amanufacturer gains access to a larger supply of fancy grain, highquality material for construction of gun stocks 10. In addition, thespline 22 assists in inhibiting warping of the gun stock 10 when it isexposed to the elements commonly associated with outdoor sportsmanlikeactivities, such as rain. Due to the relatively small width of thecarbon sheet 28, and its stately black color, the gun stock 10 has agreatly improved look when compared with other composite gun stocksmanufactured using prior art methods.

A gun stock 30 constructed in accordance with a second preferredembodiment is shown in FIGS. 5-8. The gun stock 30 is a so-called longgun stock that is commonly used for weapons such as rifles. The gunstock 30 includes a unitary body having a butt portion 32, a triggerhand grip portion 34 and a non-trigger hand grip portion 36.

The gun stock 30 includes a first stock member 38, a second stock member40 and a spline 42. The first and second stock members 38, 40 each haveinner and outer faces 44, 46. The stock members are preferablyconstructed from wood material having an approximate thickness ofbetween 1-1¼″.

The spline 42 is positioned between the inner faces 44 of the stockmembers 38, 40. The spline 42 includes first and second carbon fibersheets 48, 50 and an insert 52 positioned between the sheets 48, 50. Thesheets 48, 50 each include a carbon fiber cloth having approximately thesame size as the inner faces 44 of the stock members 38, 40. The carbonfiber cloth is impregnated with an adhesive resin, such as an epoxy, inorder to adhere the sheets 48, 50 to the insert 52 and to join the stockmembers 38, 40 together. It will be appreciated by one skilled in theart of constructing gun stocks that the relatively longer gun stocksused for rifles are more prone to warping and damage caused by twistingand bending of the stock than the relatively shorter gun stocks usedwith shotguns. By incorporating a relatively thicker spline 42 and usingtwo carbon fiber sheets 48, 50, the overall strength of the gun stock 30is greatly improved compared to the prior art long gun stocksconstructed from a single piece of wood.

The insert 52 is constructed from wood and has a thickness dimension ofabout ¼″. The insert 52 may be constructed from the same type of wood asthe stock members 38, 40, or of a different type in order to impart astylistic design element to finished gun stock 30. For example, walnutis a favorite wood type used for gun stocks due to its relativehardness, dark stately color and rich wood grain pattern. When walnut isused to construct the stock members 38, 40, incorporating an insert 52constructed from a wood type having a different but complementary color,such as maple or rosewood, adds to the overall appearance of the gunstock 30 yielding an interesting design feature not found in gun stocksmade from one piece of wood.

A method of constructing either of the gun stocks 10, 30 in accordancewith the first and second embodiments of the present invention broadlycomprises the steps of providing first and second stock members, andforming a spline between the stock members. With respect to the gunstock of the first embodiment, the first stock member 18 is laid on itsside with its inner face 24 facing upwardly. The carbon fiber cloth isthen laid on the inner face 24 of the first stock member 18. Epoxy ispoured on the carbon fiber cloth and worked into the cloth, therebyimpregnating the cloth. Once the cloth is fully impregnated, the secondstock member 20 is placed on top of the cloth with its inner face 24touching the impregnated cloth. The stock members 18, 20 are thenpressed together, such as by clamping, until the epoxy sets, therebyjoining the stock members together in order to form a stock blank. Thestock blank is then machined, sanded and finished to yield the gun stock10.

With respect to the gun stock 30 of the second embodiment describedabove, the first stock member 38 is laid on its side with its inner face44 facing upwardly. The first carbon fiber sheet 48 is formed by layinga first carbon fiber cloth on the inner face 44 of the first stockmember 38. Epoxy is worked into the cloth, impregnating the cloth. Theinsert is laid on the first sheet 48. The second sheet 50 is formed byplacing the second carbon fiber cloth on the insert and working epoxyinto the cloth until it is impregnated. The second stock member 40 isthen placed on the second sheet 50 and the first and second stockmembers 38, 40 are pressed together, such as by clamping, until theepoxy sets. Once the epoxy sets, forming a gun stock blank, the blank isthen machined, sanded and finished yielding gun stock 30.

The present invention has been described with reference to the guns tockconstructed in accordance with first and second preferred embodiments.It is understood that changes may be made and equivalents employedwithout departing from the scope of the claims below.

1. A gun stock comprising: first and second stock members, each stockmember presenting an inner and an outer face, the stock members beingconstructed from cellulosic material; and a spline positioned betweenthe inner faces of the stock members, the spline including syntheticresin material.
 2. The gun stock as set forth in claim 1, wherein thestock members are constructed from wood.
 3. The gun stock as set forthin claim 1, wherein the spline includes a first sheet constructed fromfibrous material.
 4. The gun stock as set forth in claim 3, wherein thefirst sheet is impregnated with an adhesive resin.
 5. The gun stock asset forth in claim 4, wherein the spline spans between the inner facesof the stock members.
 6. The gun stock as set forth in claim 3, whereinthe spline further includes a second sheet constructed from fibrousmaterial, and an insert positioned between the first and second sheets.7. The gun stock as set forth in claim 6, wherein the first and secondsheets are each impregnated with an adhesive resin, and the spline spansbetween the first and second stock members.
 8. The gun stock as setforth in claim 6, wherein the insert is constructed from cellulosicmaterial.
 9. The gun stock as set forth in claim 8, wherein the insertis constructed from wood.
 10. The gun stock as set forth in claim 6,wherein the insert is constructed from synthetic material.
 11. The gunstock as set forth in claim 5, wherein the stock members are eachbetween about ¾″ to 1¼″ thick.
 12. The gun stock as set forth in claim11, wherein the spline is about 0.060″ thick.
 13. The gun stock as setforth in claim 11, wherein the spline further includes a second sheetconstructed from fibrous material, and an insert positioned between thefirst and second sheets, and the spline is about ¼″ thick.
 14. A gunstock comprising: first and second stock members, each stock memberpresenting an inner and an outer face and having a thickness dimensionof about 1″, the stock members being constructed from wood; and a splinespanning between the inner faces of the stock members, the splineincluding a first sheet of carbon fiber impregnated with an adhesiveresin.
 15. The gun stock as set forth in claim 14, wherein the splinefurther includes a second sheet of carbon fiber impregnated with theadhesive resin and an insert constructed from wood positioned betweenthe first and second sheets.
 16. A method of constructing a gun stockcomprising the steps of: providing first and second stock members, eachstock member presenting an inner and an outer face, the stock membersbeing constructed from cellulosic material; forming a spline bypositioning a first sheet constructed from carbon fiber cloth on theinner face of the first stock member, and impregnating the first sheetwith an adhesive resin; placing the second stock member on the spline;and pressing the first and second stock members toward each other untilthe adhesive resin sets.
 17. The method as set forth in claim 16,wherein the step of forming a spline further includes the step ofplacing an insert on the first sheet and placing a second sheet on theinsert and impregnating the second sheet with the adhesive resin.